• Assess your needs. “Everybody uses their home differently,” says Jim Boots, director of residential sales for Protection One. “Who lives in the home? Do you have elderly parents? Do you travel a lot? Do you have pets?” These will affect your choices. Ask the monitoring company what their precise process is when they receive an alarm. Knowing their procedures — and their safeguards against false alarms — can save you costly fees if police are dispatched unnecessarily.

• Check Angie’s List and make sure to ask the companies you interview if they and their products are certified by a respected independent organization, such as Underwriters’ Laboratories.Find out what kinds of backup methods are in place if phone lines are cut or the power goes out.

• Ask the monitoring company what their precise process is when they receive an alarm. Knowing their procedures — and their safeguards against false alarms — can save you costly fees if police are dispatched unnecessarily.Assess your needs. “Everybody uses their home differently,” says Jim Boots, director of residential sales for Protection One. “Who lives in the home? Do you have elderly parents? Do you travel a lot? Do vyou have pets?” These will affect your choices. Keep in mind which portions of your house might be most important to keep secure. If you don’t want motion sensors or video cameras in every hallway or the garage, consider adding just a few in vital areas.

• Find out what kinds of backup methods are in place if phone lines are cut or the power goes out.

• Make sure you’re willing to use the system all the time. No security system is effective if it’s not regularly armed.

• Make sure you’re willing to use the system all the time. No security system is effective if it’s not regularly armed.

• Check Angie’s List and make sure to ask your companies you interview if they and their products are certified by a respected independent organization, such as Underwriters’ Laboratories.

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